Manufacture of slide fastener wire



Oc't. 5, 1943. F. ULRICH 2,330,936

MANUFACTURE OF SLIDE FASTENER' WIRE Filed Dec. 2o, 1940 46 48 "6 I- lg 48 44 BY, J

' ATTORNEYS lNvEN'ToR FREDERICK ULRICH l web of Patented on, s, 1943 UNITED l `sfrA'rEs 'PATENT ori-ics ,y zssasss miem Uli-isn, num, N.

1.,. assigner to Conmar Products Corporation, Bayonne, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey l Application December zo, 194s, N9. mais 12 om.. (c1.A bss-so) This invention relates to the manufacture of slide fasteners, and more particularly to the -manufacture of a wire -comprising a series of embryo slide fastener elements. v

'Ihe primary object of my invention is to generally improve the manufacture vof such a slide fastener wire.

In my Patent 2,221,740 1 disclose `awire having To accomplish the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the subject matter outlined above and more particularly described in the following spediication and sought to be defined in the.`

claims. The specification is accompanied .by a

drawing, in which:

closely spaced interlocking means at the top and bottom, and closely spaced notches or serrations at the side edges, the serrations correswnding to the outer ends of spread jaws. The strip provides metal for a series of slide fastener elements with the embryo head of one element nested' within and nlling the space between the embryo spread jawsI of the next embryo element, so that the elements may beformed from the strip without substantial waste orv scrap material. This wire is preferably formed by rolling a uniform wire between small diameter die'rolls carried in massive shafts and bearings-such that adequate pressure may be exerted on the wire to fully shape the same in a single passage ofthe wire thrOugh the rolls.

with bo ions opposily a thinY remainsinthenotches atthe side edges, Vof difficulty-in completely contro or guiding the ilow of the metal. A ver! soft'm tal would not be satisfactory for a longwearing slide fastener. With a satisfactory hard metal a residue or lateral iin remains in the notches. This lateral iin may be cut away in the machine which attaches the elementsto a talle,`

allas is' disclosed in my co-pending application Ser. No. 264,550, filed March 28, 1939, oritpmay be cut by means `of aspecial rollingoperation such as is disclosed' and claimed in my Patent No. 2,279,768, patented April 14, 1942, but it is simpler and more convenient in some respects to `roll`the wire without any lateral web or nn, thereby eliminating all special operations for removing the same. To accomplish thi. result is one specific object of my invention.

I have found that such a wire may be formed if excess metal at the serrations-is permitted to flow transversely of the ilattened wire. In the specific arrangement here disclosed the' wire is rolled with the projections on -to|;i"and't he recesses on bottom, and the excess metal is permitted 'to flow downwardly at the marginal portions of the wire. Prom a method viewpoint, the wire is confined at its side edges and at the top. The bottom is confined at the center, but is pur- Flg. 1 is a front elevation of a pair of rolls embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section at the wire being rolled:

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view looking at the surface ofthe upper roll;

Fig. 4 is a similaryiew looking -at the surface; of the lower roll;

Pig. 5 isa side elevation of a piece of wire obtained `from the rolls:

Fig. 6 is a .bottom view of the wire; 'l is afront elevation of a modined pair of rolls:

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section through the wire being rolled:

Pig. 9 is a view looking at the surface of the lower roll:

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a piece of wire formed in the rolls shown in Fig. 7: and

end of la separate massive drive shaft, not shown.

c The shafts are preferably arranged and driven as disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,201,068, issued May 14, 1940, to George Wintritz.

Referringnowtol'igs. 2and 3,itwillbesee'n that the upper roll I 2 is rather deeply recessed at 22 to form a serrated wire, and is additionally more deeply Iecessed at 24 to form projections on the upper side of the wire. The lower roll I4 (Figs. 2 and 4) is provided with projections 2i posely not confined at its marginal portions.'V

thus affording an outlet for excess metal.

which form recesses at the bottom of the wire, and is further provided with a surface 2l which denes and confines the bottom ofV the wire. However the lower roll Il is turned down at 30, thus providing a clearance or open space outside theV portion 2l into which excess metal may ilow, asindicated at 32.

Referring now to Pigs. 5 and 6, I there show airagmentary piece ofwire "rolled fromawire is the cheapest, but stock of vrectangular section `may also be used. The rolled wire comprises a series of closely spaced -interlocking means or Aprojections 35 along the top of the wire and a series of recesses 36 (Fig. 6) along the bottom. The"v side edges are serrated or provided with notches 38. Ordinarily these notches would be occupied by a thin lateral web of metal, as disclosed in my Patent No. 2,279,768 and application Serial No. 264,550, previously referred to, but in the present case the notches are rolled clean and open with no such lateral fin. Instead, the excess metal has been displaced transversely of the broad or ilat'pla'ne of the wire, producing the raised or upset marginal portions 32 .previously mentioned in connection with Fig. 2, and also shown in Figs. 5 and 6.` I

l'llhere is no lateral web because the side edges" of the wire are fully conned by the serrated walls 4G of the upper roll I2. These vwalls are made deep enough for the intended purpose. In fact, as will be seen in Fig. 2, they are actually p deeper than the thickness of the rolled wire as defined between the surface 22 ofthe upper roll and the surface 28 of the lower roll. In other words, the peripheryl 42 of the upper roll has a radius large enough to come below the surface 28 of the lower roll. Thus it is impossible for the usual lateral or sidewardly extending web to form, and excess metal is instead displaced downwardly. Excess metal so located does not interfere with proper operation of the slide fastener.

In Figs. 2 and 3 it will be noted that the serrated side walls l0 of the upper roll are disposed V at an angle to the vertical. This angle is highly desirable for clearance of the serrations from notches in the wire as the wire leaves the roll. It provides a clearance which helps compensate for angularity caused by rotation of the roll.

In Fig. 'l the upper roll I2 is substantially the same as that previously described. The lower roll 44 differs from the lower roll Il inhaving small serrations. 48, instead of simple straight edges. In JFig. 8 it will be seen that the serrations at 48 are smaller than and are located inside the serrations at l0, thus providing a lateral clearance therebetween into which excessl metal may ilow, as is indicated at 48. The lower roll M is turned down at 50 to clear the large radius portion 42 of the upper roll, but preferably only enough for the intended-DlliDOse.

The result of the use of the small ordegener:

ate serrations 46 on the lo er roll is to confine the downwardly displaced me al 48 more. closely to the serrated or zigzag marginal-portions of the wire. The displaced metal is indicated at 62 in Fig. 11 and is in the form of a zigzag ridge,

rather than a series of connected triangles, suchA as are shown in Fig. 6.

Because the displaced metal is confined more p narrowly when using the bottom roll M, the metal may tend to ilow downwardly an exces-r sive amount in spots, and it is therefore desirable to-limit the downward flow. This is done by the surface l0 of the lower roll, and it is for this reason that the surface Il is made large rolls should be equal. l In the specific case here shown, the rolls have a 'pitch diameter of vone inch. The'l actual diameter of the upper roll is greater than one inch, 'this being so because the pitch line or point of theoretical contact between the pitch circles, is preferably selected to come :lust about half way through the thickness of the wire. Thus the diameter of the lower` roll at the surface 28 is somewhat less than an inch, but the initial blank is larger in vorder to allow for the formation of the projections 26. The pitch line is located about half way between the surface 22 of upper roll 'l2 and the surface 28 of lower roll I4.

It is believed that the present improvement as well as the advantages thereof will be apparent from the foregoing' detailed description thereof.. It will also .be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in several preferred forms, many changes and modifications. may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as sought to be delined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A step product in the manufacture of slide fastener elements, said step product comprising a strip of metal preed to shape by rolling said strip between die rolls, said strip having interlocking means at thetop and bottom faces, the exterior edges ofthe strip having ,notches or serrations to conform to the outer ends of spread jaws, the edge portions of said strip of metal being raised or upset in a direction transverse to the faces of the strip, the raised or upset marginal portions containing some of the metal displaced when forming the 'notches or serrations in the edges, said strip having no residuary web or iinin said notches or serrations.

2. A step product in the manufacture of slide fastener elements, said 'step product comprising a strip of metal pressed to shape .by rolling said strip between die rolls, said strip-having closely spaced interlocking means at the top and bottom faces, the exterior edges of the strip having closely spaced notches or serrations to conform.

to the outer ends of spread Jaws, said spacing being only a fraction of the length of the ele- 'space between the embryo spread Jaws'of the next embryo element, whereby the elements may be formed from a strip without substantial vwaste or 'scrap material, the edge portions of said strip of metal being raised or upset in a direction .transverse to the face of the strip, the

enough in diameter to practically meet the sur-i face l2 of the upper roll.

' metal is spread over a very much larger area, and

This 'is to be con" trasted with the construction of the lower roll.

raised or upset marginal portions containing some of the metal Idisplaced when forming the notches or serrationsin the edges, said strip having no residuary web or nn in said notches or serrations.' r

A3. A step product in the manufacture of slide fastener elements, said step product comprising a strip of metal pressed to shape by rolling said strip between die rolls, said strip having closely spaced projections at the top and recesses at the bottom, the,ex'terior edges of the strip having closely spaced notches or serrations to conform to the outer ends of spread Jaws, said spacing being' only a fraction of the length of the elements, the strip providing embryo fastener elements cesses and projections corresponding to Vthe proheral portions of the wire, whereby excess caused by 4the sex-rations at the edges may l.

' corresponding the second roll,

4- assiomal spread jaws, 'one of said rolls beingrecessed to a .of ,a smooth kWire into a strip of embryo fastener depth greater than the thickness of the desired elements, said strip having notches or serrations elements, said recessbeing defined bynotched or along the side edges thereof corresponding to serrated side walls, said rollv'being additionally the desired-projections on the strip, the other of said rolls having projections to the desired recesses on the strip and having a raised surface correspon thahottom of the strip, said raised surface hav` ing small serrations located inside the serrations of the other Vroilin order to provide 'a space for transverse ow of metal at the edge portions of the strip in a'direction from the iirst roll toward be'rolled without the production'of a web or n in the serrations.

said serrated wire may- -12. A pair of die :ons for lthe 'coming mmng' 'recess being as the thickness of the defined-by notched or serrated side walls, the other of said rolls having a raised surface-corresponding to the bottom of the strip, said -insi'de the serrations of the other roll space for transverse flow o! metal at the edge portions of the strip in a direction fron the rstnamed ro11 toward the second roll, whereby said serrated wire may be rolledwithout the production of a web or iin in the serrations.'

i A FREDERICK ULRICH. 

